


Save the Date

by ShiroiNoKiba



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cute Yamaguchi Tadashi, Developing Relationship, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Haikyuu Connect Zine, Other, Self-Insert, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29703870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroiNoKiba/pseuds/ShiroiNoKiba
Summary: Somehow, your high school crush has become your first boyfriend! And what to do when your first Valentine's Day together is coming up--make him chocolates of course! But it doesn't go as planned; in fact, the whole thing is just short of a disaster. That is until Tadashi makes a last-minute idea into the best date ever.
Relationships: Yamaguchi Tadashi/You
Kudos: 1





	Save the Date

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Thank you so much for clicking on this. This is my very first Zine work, so I went extra heavy on the fluff! I hope you like it! Please enjoy a first date with Yamaguchi Tadashi ✨

_Is my hand sweaty? My hand is definitely sweaty, and he’s going to notice. He’s gonna notice how sweaty my hand is and think I’m gross! Wait, I have to calm down. The more nervous I get, the sweatier my hands are going to get. Could I even get sweatier than I already am??_

The nervous thoughts raced through your mind. You tried shifting your grip to let some air through to your palm, but with little success. Your hand was being held too tightly. You looked up to its captor; Yamaguchi Tadashi, your boyfriend of two weeks, held your palm tightly to his. His freckled cheeks were pink with the cold air. You only realized you were really staring at him when he turned to look down at you and smiled. You swear your heart stopped beating for a moment or two before you managed to get your eyes off that beautiful smile and down to your feet.

“Um,” you pronounced too loudly. The nerves were really getting to you. _Calm down,_ you told yourself. You took a deep breath and tried again. “V-Valentine’s Day is coming up tomorrow.”

“Hm, you’re right,” Tadashi said ponderously. “It’s that time of year again already.”

You walked quietly beside him for a while, trying to work up the courage to ask him what his favorite kind of chocolate was. You wanted to do something special for him, even though you’d never made special chocolates for a boyfriend before. Your friends always got store-bought goodies from you; you’d purchased a simple recipe guide for beginners, but somehow your confidence still wasn’t at the level you expected it to be. Determined despite this, you swallowed hard and said, “Yamaguchi-kun, what is--”

“You go that way, right?”

You blinked up in surprise. Staring at your feet as you walked, you hadn’t noticed that you had arrived at the front of the school. The shoe lockers were where you two usually parted ways until lunch time.

“Um, yeah,” you muttered. You’d missed your chance…

“Well, I’ll see you at lunch then,” Tadashi said, smiling and bending low to give you a peck on the lips. You squeaked in surprise, and before you could gather yourself and kiss him back, he’d turned away to find his locker. You watched him as he went, feeling how warm your face was with your icy hands. There was no way you’d get used to this!

You couldn’t concentrate on lectures throughout the day; Japanese literature was interesting, sure, but not enough to take your mind off your future task--your debut as a confectioner. You tried to think of someone you could talk to about tips and tricks in the kitchen, but just like you, your friends all gave you store bought chocolates every year. Well, there was one person you could think of that might help a little. It’d be tough--you were sure that this person didn’t like to be bothered, let alone by strangers--but it was your only chance if you were to get even close to making Tadashi’s Valentine's Day special.

So at lunch time, you raced out the door without waiting for your friends to crowd around your desk to eat lunch together like always. Shuffling as quickly as you could, you saw your target duck out of his classroom, 1-4.

“Um, excuse me! Tsukishima-kun?” Your voice came out too loud. People were staring, but at least you had gotten the tall blond’s attention. “I-I was wondering if you maybe had uh… well I just… I need to speak to you!”

“Do I know you?” Tsukishima asked with cold indifference. Just as you expected. You introduced yourself and apologized for calling him out in front of everyone. “What did you need again?”

Asking him aside, hoping to get the eyes off of you, you told him about your plight. His face never changed from the neutral, slightly bored expression he always wore, but you didn’t let that stop you. You explained to him that you’d missed your chance to ask Tadashi what his favorite kind of chocolate was, but how you were still determined to make him a special treat.

“Isn’t this sort of last minute?” Tsukishima asked, raising one pale eyebrow at you as he crossed his arms to lean his shoulder against the wall. “Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, right? Well anyway, I don’t know what kind of chocolate Yamaguchi likes. I don’t even think he’s that big on sweets in the first place.”

“Tsukki!” came the familiar voice from across the hall. You startled, seeing your new boyfriend’s freckled face emerge from the classroom. Oh no, you were about to be caught! Without a word, you turned your back on Tsukishima and ducked into the lunchtime crowd surrounding you. You’d apologize to Tsukishima again later, but for now you just didn’t want to be seen. You were determined to keep Tadashi’s Valentine a surprise. Plus, after what Tsukishima said, you didn’t want him to know that you still hadn’t done anything for him. What if he got upset, or didn’t feel like he deserved something special from his girlfriend? No way were you going to let that happen.

So, with a watery excuse over text as to why you couldn’t hang around to walk home with him after his volleyball practice, you made off to your house alone and as quickly as your feet would take you. Once there, you tore through the recipe guide; you could kiss your past self for getting the beginners version, its intro really broke down every single step and highlighted the importance of each one and why one needed to follow the steps in order. In ten minutes, you learned more about cacao and the subtle luxury of chocolate making than you ever had even heard of in your whole life. To be quite sincere, it became more intimidating the more you read--chocolatiers went to universities and special training schools to learn their crafts, so could you really manifest any skills in one day? You had to give it a try. You blushed, thinking of your boyfriend’s sweet smile, his contagious laugh and the cool way he held your hand flush to his own. Goosebumps, and not from the chilly weather, went up on your arms when you thought of how casually he was able to kiss you now, even though in the beginning you were both so nervous about it you had actually bumped teeth once. Yeah, for him, you would make sure to do everything just right according to the book.

One supermarket trip later, and you had all that you needed for your first round of chocolate making.

And… it didn’t go as planned.

Somehow, melting the chocolate in the microwave had ensured that every inch on the inside of the machine was covered in gooey, bubbling chocolate. Plan B didn’t take very well either. Meltable chocolate was much harder to cut than it looked, and a few bandages later, you figured it was best to throw the thing away before the Food Safety Administration had to be called. Your last bar of meltable chocolate had to be the one. Third time had to be the charm, or you’d be lost and the whole thing would’ve gone to waste. So, with one eye on the stove and the other on your recipe book, you stirred and mixed and measured as slowly and accurately as you could. You poured the mixture into the little molds you’d purchased and stuck the whole thing in the fridge. According to the recipe book, one good night’s sleep would leave you with perfectly made chocolate hearts and bunnies and stars. Just in time for Valentine’s day.

But the next morning proved the recipe book very wrong. Springing from bed with excitement the moment your alarm clock sounded, you raced to the kitchen to see what had become of your creations. Only, when you opened the fridge to peek in on the trays of chocolates, you noticed something you’d never seen chocolate do before. It jiggled. Bewildered, you reached in and grabbed one corner of the mold tray and moved it, watching with surprise and mild shock as the surfaces of each chocolate jiggled like gelatin.

“No, no! This can’t be happening!” you exclaimed. Desperate, you stuck the trays into the freezer while you got ready for the day. You even put on a little pink lipstick, which you knew you’d get in trouble for, but couldn’t resist the look of on this day. But even that special treat to yourself wasn’t enough to hold back the anxiety when you looked into the freezer. Even after a thorough chill, the chocolate still jiggled! But, with no other choice, you threw them into the decorative plastic bag and tied it off with the heart patterned ribbon, dropped it into your school bag and off you went.

You took a different route that morning. You couldn’t bear it if Tadashi were waiting for you at the corner where you two always met up, with that bright and lovely smile of his and the pinkness that always colored his cheeks when he saw you. You took yourself and your shameful Valentine’s gift the long way, making it to school just as the first bell rang. The state of the chocolates didn’t improve at all during the day; in fact, they only seemed to get worse, and their gelatinous state became runnier and runnier, until, at the last bell, you were left with what looked like a bag of hot chocolate gone cold rather than the little truffles they were meant to be. Outside the hall from classroom 1-4, inspecting this very same miserable bag, tears began to warm your eyes. There was no way Tadashi would accept such a terrible gift. What else could you do? Tsukishima’s words came back into your mind, and you kicked yourself internally once again for waiting until the last minute to prepare a gift you had no experience in handling. Such a foolish attempt. And then, just as you imagined you couldn’t feel any lower, the classroom door slid open and out came Tadashi. You gasped when he called your name in surprise, trying to hide the bag behind your back before he got a look.

“Sorry I left you waiting,” he said sweetly, shutting the door behind him and stepping towards you. But with each step he took closer, you took one to back away. Tears welled up in earnest now. The embarrassment became too much--being looked at so tenderly by the same one you’d let down--and you had to escape. You turned your back and dashed down the hall, tossing the bag of chocolate into the nearest trash can. “Hey, w-wait! Where are you going?”

You ignored your boyfriend’s calls of your name and his begging you to wait, running out of the school’s front doors and down the street. There had to be something you could do, somewhere you could go. You couldn’t accept defeat so easily. So with your outdoor shoes poorly put on and tears freezing to your cheeks in the icy February wind, you dashed into the closest corner store you found. The cashier behind the counter, certainly surprised by your dramatic entrance, snubbed out a cigarette in an ashtray and took his feet down from where he had them kicked up on the counter.

“Can I help you?” he said, blinking a few times, then dropping the customer service platitudes when faint recognition crossed his expression. “Hey, I know you. You hang around the gym sometimes after practice. Are you okay?”

“I need help,” you said unceremoniously, crossing to the counter. “Chocolate. Do you have any?”

“Chocolate?” the bleached blond man repeated, putting thumb and forefinger to his scruffy chin. “Pretty sure someone took the last bar we had this morning. Only thing that’s left is--”

Just then, the front door to the store opened again. Tadashi, looking more handsome and windblown than you’d ever seen him, stood in the doorway. His eyes were wild and flashing, and as soon as they landed on you, you yelped and ran between the store shelves.

 _How is he so fast?!_ You questioned silently, ducking down even though it was obvious that he had seen you. You heard footsteps coming closer and you shut your eyes, childishly hoping you could disappear and he would walk right by you. But of course he found you, and you heard the whisper of fabric as he crouched down beside you.

“I see you,” he said, and you could hear the smile in his voice. You opened your eyes and hesitantly looked up into his face. His teeth flashed. “Hi there.”

You garbled a response back, halfway between a hi and a groan. To your horror, he held up the bag of chocolate you’d dumped on your mad dash out of the school.

“I also found… this,” he paused, spinning the bag where it dangled between two fingers. “What… is it?”

You covered the flaming blush in your face with both hands. “I-it was supposed to be your Valentine’s Day chocolates,” you explained in a mousey voice.

“Hm,” Tadashi hummed with interest. He undid the ribbon and opened up the bag. “It sure smells like chocolate.” He dipped one finger into the puddle at the bottom.

“Um! It’s probably not--!” you stuttered desperately. Did he intend to actually eat the stuff?! Then, as if to prove you right, he popped his finger into his mouth. His expression twisted up right away, and he turned away to cough and choke. He turned back, his eyes watering, and he continued to cough with laughter in between.

“Did you actually try it?” he teased. Your face burned even further, but when he held the bag out to you, you dipped your finger in and sucked away the chocolate. Your tongue felt as though it might leave your mouth, and goosebumps went up all over. You covered your mouth with both hands as you tried to cough away the horrible taste. Tadashi laughed with a bright, infectious sound, and soon you found you were laughing too. And the pair of you laughed and laughed, until you crumpled into one another, until your sides hurt and there were tears in your eyes. It took a while, but you laughed yourselves out, wiping the corners of your eyes. “Ah, what a day. I thought you were avoiding me.”

“I _was_ avoiding you!” you corrected, and Tadashi blinked in surprise. “At least I was trying. You’re way too athletic to run from.”

“Well, with your shoes on like slippers, it’s no wonder you didn’t get very far,” he said with a smirk, and stuck his finger into the backs of your shoes to put them on right for you. “And didn’t I see you with Tsukki at lunch yesterday?”

“Yeah,” you said. “I tried to ask him what your favorite kind of chocolate is so I could make you something you would like. But it doesn’t matter, because I would’ve ruined it anyway.”

Tadashi chuckled at this. “Yeah, I like chocolate, but I’m not a huge fan of sweets.”

“That’s what Tsukishima-kun said.”

Tadashi was quiet for a moment. You looked up at him, seeing the thoughts churning behind his eyes. His smile widened.

“I’ll tell you what I _do_ like, though.” So, without another word, he stood up and hoisted you to your feet by the hand to trail you along behind him. He weaved out of the shelves and past the counter, tossing a “Sorry, Coach, I’m going to be late for practice!” over his shoulder. He dragged you behind, way too quickly, as he ducked and dodged other passers-by in the streets to the town center. Huffing and puffing behind him, you begged him to slow down. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there!”

Familiar golden arches glowed neon in the fading daylight, and soon the warm, appetizing scents of hamburgers and french fries and chicken fingers surrounded you. Your stomach growled, loud enough for Tadashi to hear. Before you could apologize, he laughed. “I guess we’re in the right place! Go on, order whatever you want.”

So the both of you placed your orders, and as you dug around in your school bag for your wallet, Tadashi handed some cash over to the cashier. Receipt and order number in hand, he took your hand and gently pulled you out of line to wait.

“But this was supposed to be my gift to you,” you protested. “Why did you pay?”

“It’s alright, you can gift me something on White Day,” your boyfriend countered with a wink. “And by the way. I like that lipstick on you.”

“Oh,” you whispered, reaching up to touch your lips with the tips of your fingers. “Th-thanks.”

Then, the bent knuckle of one finger found the bottom of your chin and tilted your head back carefully. Tucked away behind the soda machine, hidden from view, Tadashi pressed a soft kiss to your lips. Only this time, despite the warmth in your face and the unexpectedness of it, you kissed him back. Warmth and tenderness flowing into that kiss, and you felt yourself grow more confident.

“Number three-zero-six!” came the call over the loudspeaker. Tadashi pulled away.

“That’s us,” he said. Before he could turn to grab your waiting meal, you saw the pinkness of his freckled cheeks and smiled to yourself.

And so the two of you ate together in a booth tucked far in the corner of the restaurant by the window, and conversation came more naturally than it ever had between the two of you. Tadashi told you all about how he’d always preferred salty snacks over sweet ones, soft french fries being his most favorite of all. You told him how you’d always preferred the crispy ones and left the soft ones behind.

“No way,” he said, offering you one of his treasured treats. “The soft ones are always the best. See?”

So you let yourself be fed, chewing slowly. “Maybe you’re right,” you said with a smile. And he fed you another, and another, his chin resting in his other hand. His eyes were soft as he watched you, his smile syrupy and sweet. You blushed under that warm and loving gaze. Yeah, maybe the chocolates had been a disaster, but this--being fed by your kind, caring, and cool boyfriend, warmth and coziness surrounding you even as snowflakes fell outside--certainly more than saved the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? If you now have cavities from all the sweetness, please don't forget to leave a kudos or a comment so I know whose dental insurance I need to cover 🙇🏽♀️
> 
> I also have commissions open! Please be sure to check the pinned tweet on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ShiroiNoKiba) to know how to request me! Thank you so much!


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